Ohmpark Mixtape #13: Our Favourite Songs of 2009

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If you’ve been paying attention around here this year, there is no doubt you will be familiar with everything on this list, and perhaps even a little burnt out on some of these tracks. But each of these songs are strongly linked to different moments and memories I have of 2009, and they make up the ultimate soundtrack to an amazing year in music. So jam them out one last time:

Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse w/ Wayne Coyne : Revenge
Animal Collective : My Girls
Atlas Sound w/ Noah Lennox : Walkabout
The Dirty Projectors : Useful Chamber
Grizzly Bear : Two Weeks
Bat For Lashes : Daniel
Andrew Bird : Anonanimal
Here We Go Magic : Fangela
Loney, Dear : Airport Surroundings
Mew : Introducing Palace Players
St. Vincent : The Strangers
Do Make Say Think : Do
Phoenix : Lisztomania
Nomen Novum : Miracles Come True

What The Hell Am I Listening To?!?

Two ridiculously talented females up the ante with a sophomore release from each of their respective projects:


St Vincent

Annie Clark’s first release as St Vincent, Marry Me, was an album that I really enjoyed, but it had this ultra-light, whimsical character to it that made it hard for me to sink my teeth into at first. I eventually grew to adore it, but it always sounded like it was a couple of steps away from the brilliant potential I thought she possessed. On only her second attempt, Actor, she has fully realized that untapped inner genius. I’m going to go ahead and declare it: Right now, this record is my favourite to come out officially so far this year. Every single song seems to contain one of those hair raising sort of moments that just wow you. It is simply a perfectly crafted composition from beginning to end and I cannot stop listening to it. So jump on the bandwagon sooner than later and get your tickets to her show at The Earl June 14 now because I hear they are selling fast.

St. Vincent : The Strangers

St. Vincent : Marrow

Buy Actor

St. Vincent myspace




Bat For Lashes

Natasha Khan returns with a more consistent and altogether stunning release than her really good debut album 2 years ago, Fur & Gold. The Tori Amos influence is still heavily felt here, but she has been able to carve out a more unique and personal sound this time around. The clear standout on the record is “Daniel”, which manages to do the ’80s nostalgia thing more successfully than anything on M83’s entire album of attempts from last year. Although the two tracks I picked out below don’t represent it, this record as a whole will be a bit of a difficult listen for someone who prefers their music upbeat. But there are some really amazing parts on the slower songs as well, so make sure to check this one out:

Bat For Lashes : Daniel

Bat For Lashes : Two Planets

Buy Two Suns

Bat For Lashes myspace

Live Show: Bat For Lashes (4/4/09) BBC Show

Bat For Lashes
Dermot O’Leary Show
BBC Radio 2
England
4th April 2009

Tracklist:

1.Intro
2.Daniel
3.Chat
4.Kangaroo
5.Outro

Download Lossless Torrent Here

A Random MP3 Trilogy


Marnie Stern in the studio earlier this year.

So the first track today is the Marnie Stern single from her upcoming sophomore LP, This Is It And I Am It And You Are It And So Is That And He Is It And She Is It And It Is It And That Is That out October 7th. I absolutely loved her debut from last year, so I’m pretty excited.

Marnie Stern : Transformer

Another female who had a great album last year was Natasha Khan’s Bat For Lashes. There is a The Cure cover by her rolling around the Internet from a forthcoming The Cure tribute album featuring acts like Jesu, Kaki King, and Indian Jewelry. More info on it here.

Bat For Lashes : A Forest

Finally we’ll end with some local love, as Treasure Fingers just released a single of “Cross The Dancefloor” complete with four remixes of the essential booty shaking song. While I’ve been hearing this song for forever in the A, it is currently blazing through the blogosphere since coming out officially. You can snag it up here, and jam one of the remixes here:

Treasure Fingers : Cross The Dancefloor (Lifelike remix)

Ohmpark’s Top 50 Best Albums Of 2007

2007 was an incredible year of music and there were so many albums I really liked that didn’t make this list. I noticed that most of the lists I pay attention to were very similar to one another this year as opposed to last year. Also, I’ve found myself in more of a disagreeance with those lists than last year. If there is any theme to be taken out of this list, I think it’s that I feel like too many great albums were underrated by the blogosphere elites, and that they were way in love with some albums I think are overrated. This list represents my personal assertions more so than the rest of the Ohmpark crew, but I worked hard to get every one’s opinions and influences in this thing. Feel free to comment on how much you hate or love it. I feel like every album on this is an essential one from last year, so go listen to some new music:

Click here to read the entire post…

What The Hell Am I Listening To?!?

Bat For Lashes (Brighton, England)

Half Pakistani, half English Natasha Khan has been blowing my mind since picking up a copy of her solo project Bat For Lashes’ debut album. She takes Tori Amos at her best and infuses an entire world of sounds. I highly recommend checking out this top tier singer/songwriter:

Bat For Lashes : Fur And Gold : Trophy

Bat For Lashes : Fur And Gold : Tahiti

Buy Fur And Gold

Bat For Lashes Myspace

Minus The Bear (Seattle, Washington)

Minus The Bear are what i like to call a “Bridge Band”, which means a band that plays a very poppy style of music, but is also a really good band, and can be a band that people who listen to bad music can get into and be a bridge to better music. I’m very impressed with the maturity this band has shown on Planet Of Ice with respect to the previous Menos El Oso and they are sort of a window into what a band like Incubus could have been had they gone in a different direction from the start.

Minus the Bear : Planet Of Ice : Burying Luck

Minus The Bear : Planet Of Ice : Lotus

Buy Planet Of Ice

Minus The Bear Myspace